Students creating satellite with self-healing material

MONTREAL, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- A group of Canadian college students is trying to raise money to create a satellite that will test a new material that can heal itself.

Space Concordia, made up of Concordia University Engineering students, designed the ConSat-1 three years ago to study the South Atlantic Anomaly, an area in space that causes electronic equipment to malfunction, CBC News reported Saturday.

The ConSat-1 won the first Canadian Satellite Design Challenge last year, with a prize of having the satellite launched into space.

Now, the team is working on a second satellite that incorporates a self-healing material designed by a Concordia professor.

When the material breaks, it releases an epoxy that seals cracks and protects against further damage.

"Nobody has sent this to space yet, so we thought it's really interesting to do this ourselves -- to send it in space -- and if it actually works, this could be used in future for bigger satellites, or even the next space station," said Mehbi Sabzalin, the project leader for ConSat-2.

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